SOUTHEND’S new Tory administration has been accused of breaking a manifesto commitment before it was even voted into office.

With the help of its two Ukip councillors, Southend Council voted the Conservatives back into office by 26 votes to 24, unseating Ron Woodley’s “rainbow coalition.”

However, new leader John Lamb's cabinet has eight members – one larger than Mr Woodley’s and two more than the party's cost-cutting manifesto pledge of six.

Labour spokesman Ian Gilbert, now leader of the opposition, alleged this was done to keep a Tory councillor in the fold - referring to the new "Technology" position created for Eastwood Park Tory Trevor Byford.

He said: “It seems almost comical the first act of this new Conservative administration has been to break one of the few promises it made during the election.

“The increased size of the cabinet, we understand, has been implemented in order to buy off a Conservative councillor who was threatening to jump ship.

“Straight off the bat, this shows a lack of a commitment to keeping their promises, and weak leadership from an administration being held hostage by Ukip, as well as their own backbenches.”

However Mr Lamb said the party intended to review the cabinet in line with reductions in the number of council officers - and in the meantime cabinet members had taken a ten per cent pay cut to accommodate the new position.

He said: "We will review all the portfolios to see how we can reduce them, but the previous administration made such a mess of IT, we've even had members of their own side sending emails to me saying the IT isn't working, and we have someone with that technology experience to sort it out."

Mr Byford, a retired automotive design engineer, denied threatening to "jump ship" in order to get the role - but admitted he used the party’s precarious grip on power to gain concessions.

He said: “My feeling and that of a few others including my constituents was the group was not going in the direction we thought it should go - and we’ve hopefully brought it back to a direction which pleases the majority of Conservative-thinking people.

“I did throw my toys out of the pram but it was a political judgement I thought was necessary. I’m a true blue Conservative, I have been all my life, and I would never leave the group. I merely voiced my opinion.”

Mr Lamb added the Conservative group does not have a whip and members are encouraged to express their concerns.